Harry Potter & The Hyralceon Academy of Sorcerous Arts
by The Basilisk King
Summary: Completely Changed timeline, what if Sirius did not give up Harry? What if some characters never died? What if the Wizarding Saviour grew up with the Heir of the Black Family, and they both attended a new school, not of witchcraft and wizardry, but of real Sorcery?


AN: Just so you guys know that none of my stories are discontinued, they are just on a break until my horde of plot bunnies get rounded up by my legions of minions, unfortunately minions are on a coffee break at the minute so this may take a while. Also here is the obligatory Harry Potter does not belong to me statement (that's it), if he did then the ending would be quite different. So sit back grab a bacon sandwich and a butterbeer and enjoy :] TBK

Sirius Black pushed his 1959 Triumph Bonneville T120 as fast as the flying vehicle would go, he'd had a bad feeling the whole day, his supervisor Auror-Captain Alastor Moody had termed the feeling as 'Someone walking over your grave'. It was like having ice water slowly trickled down his spine, it was so strong that he had insisted that his wife Miranda take their son over to the Potter's safe house for the time being, just to be on the safe side.

However it was only after he had finished his latest tour as a Junior-Auror that his suspicions were confirmed, he had swung past the small apartment where the only non animagus member of the Marauders lived, but there was no sign of Remus anywhere, and the flat looked like it had not been lived in for some time, a stop at the flat of Peter Pettigrew also proved fruitless.

By now Sirius was just about at his whits end, two of his best friends were missing, both seemingly having left their homes of their own accord, the only possible solution that he had was one he barely thought to consider, one of them was coerced, and one of them was a traitor. Doing something that he knew was dangerous he funnelled some of his own magic into the motorcycle, the speed dial shot from an already impressive two hundred and fifty miles per hour to a dangerous three hundred.

He approached the village of Godric's Hollow and felt his heart drop inside his chest, he could see the large cottage that was the Potter's safe house, perched atop the small hillock that overlooked the village, it was called Godric's knoll. However it was the simple fact that he could see the building that frightened him so much, he should not have been able to see the building until he had passed through the wards of the potent Fidelius Charm, that combined with the ghostly green image of the Dark Mark hovering above the building, made the normally stoic scion of House Black utterly terrified.

Slamming the motorcycle into a steep dive he screeched to a halt just before the ruined door of the cottage, the gravel on the driveway crunched under the wheels of the Triumph. Sirius flung himself off the bike and ran inside the shattered door screaming at the top of his lungs "JAMES...LILLY...MIRANDA SOMEONE ANSWER ME PLEASE."

But only silence greeted the young heir to the Lordship of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, silence and blood. It was everywhere slathered on the floor, on the walls and on the furniture, Sirius nearly vomited at the sight of it, glancing around he saw the bodies of seven Death Eaters, their distinctive bone masks marking their allegiance for all to see. Near the overturned couch something caught his eyes, a pair of glasses with both lenses shattered lay next to an 11" mahogany wand, a sob escaped Sirius as he fell to his knees next to the wand of his best friend James Potter.

From the looks of the room it appeared that James had put up one hell of a fight, but his body was nowhere to be found, Sirius didn't want to think about what that meant. Slipping the wand into his empty wand holster he moved through the rest of the ground floor, the Potter's possessions were scattered all over the place, he had to choke back another sob when he saw two soft toys on the floor. One of them was a black furry dog, shaped suspiciously like his animagus form, the other was a soft, plush, white stag. At the sight of the two toys an image swam before Sirius's eyes it was the image of two children, both of them with dark black hair, one with messy hair that looked like the child had just gotten out of a tumble drier, the others hair was straight framing his face. The messy haired child had eyes of piercing emerald green, so bright they could look right through a person, the other had eyes that were a deep grey, grey like rolling storm clouds, the green eyed boy was his godson Hadrian James Potter, affectionately called by most Harry, the other was his own son Aries Asterion Black.

Both children were about a year old, they had barely begun to live, when it had appeared that they had been killed by the deranged murderous rage of Lord Voldemort, Sirius felt the overwhelming despair of loss creep up on him again, until he heard a sound from the second story of the home. He froze and in an instant his wand was pointing at the staircase, until he heard the sound again, the unmistakable sound of a child crying.

With a wordless yell he sprinted up the stairs in the hope of finding his godson or son alive, but the sight that greeted him brought the young Auror up short, it was the broken, bloody body of his wife.

Lady Miranda Emily Black nee Potter, James Potter's younger sister, younger by only a single year but every bit as courageous as her older brother. She had held a crush on Sirius from the time the young Marauder had come to live with them after he had run away from home. It wasn't until Sirius was in his last year and she in her sixth that Sirius had thrown caution to the wind and dated his best friends sister, even under the threat of castration that awaited him should he break her heart, James may have been Sirius' best friend but he was Potter first, and Potter's took care of their own.

They were married three weeks after she had finished school, it was the happiest moment of his life, and the best decision he'd ever made, to change his ways from a consummate ladies man to a one-witch wizard. Miranda had helped Sirius get over the dark stain left on his soul by his horrible family, then she had given him the greatest gift any woman could give a man, she had borne him a son, and here she was lying at the top of the stairs at the Potter's safe house. From the wounds she had received Sirius assumed that she had been hit in the back by some form of dark cutting curse that had severed her spine, and fallen to the ground, the bright blue baby blanket that belonged to his son was nearby so he assumed that Miranda, knowing she was going to die, had given Aries to Lilly. Staying behind to hold off the approaching Death Eaters she had given the remaining members of her family a chance to escape.

The child's crying was heard again throughout the still house and Sirius buried the hollow pain filled feelings deep within himself, his wife was gone, but there yet may be hope for the remaining members of his family. He swallowed the lump in his throat, leant down and kissed his wife gently on the lips "Goodbye my angel, I love you", he picked up her 9" oak wand and put it into the moleskin pouch he had attached to his belt.

He carefully moved through the remainder of the house, wand at the ready in case there was anyone lying in wait for the first person to respond to the scene of the crime. Finally he entered the nursery, and Sirius gasped in shock, he was surprised that any portion of this room was still standing. Like the front of the house, it looked like someone had run through it with a muggle bulldozer, and then sloshed liberal amounts of blood everywhere with a bucket, he could not stop the tears from sliding down his cheeks. He saw the blood on the floors and the walls, the huge gap in the wall, and the 10 1/4" willow wand lying next to the shattered crib. He knew then that Lilly, the flower of the Marauders, was gone too, he felt truly alone, wiping his eyes he looked around for the origin of the child's cries he had heard from downstairs.

He quickly scooped up Lilly's wand and put it in his pouch, also transferring James' wand there too, he steeled himself and looked in the crib hoping, praying or wishing call it what you like, it was all the same, he would have dropped to his knees and prayed to whatever deity anyone would care to mention if Harry and Aries were alive.

The first thing that he saw when he looked in the crib was the shining emerald eyes of his godson, "PAFOO" the little boy cried and held his arms up in the universal gesture of children everywhere when they want to be picked up. Sirius was only too happy to oblige, he scooped his whimpering godson up and cradled him against his chest crying in relief that the boy was alive.

Upon laying eyes on Harry he had immediately seen the ugly lightning bolt shaped cut upon his brow, and knew that his godson would be marked for life, for whatever curse had struck the boy, it would leave no ordinary scar. He looked around for his own son and saw a small figure under the blanket in the corner of the crib, a bloodstained figure, he reached out with a trembling hand and pulled the blanket back, the sight nearly caused him to vomit, there lay his son, the Heir of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black, except he was missing something, his left eye.

Where his left eye had been there was only a long bloody gash that extended from where his brow met his hair all the way across his tiny face to just the edge of his jaw, he felt his heart start up again when he heard the tiny whimpers coming from his son, he placed Harry down in the crib and picked up his boy. He hugged the tiny figure to his chest and made a soothing noise to try to calm to injured baby, almost as if sensing his father was there Aries' whimpers died down a little. Sirius was glad that that pain had made his son practically unconscious if he was fully awake he would have nearly been catatonic with pain.

Now that his primary concern was alleviated Sirius quickly cast every healing charm he knew on the two boys, but sadly his suspicions were confirmed when both cuts only closed over, and were not completely healed, it was then that some sick bastard had used dark magic to try to kill his boys, and he knew of only one person who would cast a killing curse on an infant, and only one person who had enough hatred in their heart for him to cast a dark cutting curse on his son.

Wrapping the two boys in blankets he picked them up and left the house he was just settling them into the expanded and reattached sidecar of the motorbike when he heard the thunderous clap of mass apparations. Securing the boys he spun around with his wand already raised and a curse formed before he was faced with pretty much the entirety of the Hogwarts teaching staff and members of the Order of the Phoenix.

Just as the relief was settling in he heard Albus Dumbledore, a man he had always looked up to speak.

"Sirius what have you done? Why did you betrayed them, what could Voldemort offer you that got you to betray Lilly and James?"

Sirius saw that everyone behind Dumbledore, although he noticed the absent of Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, held their wands a little tighter, and their eyes were a little harder. Even the eyes of his supervisor at the Auror office, Auror-Captain Alastor Moody. Didn't these people know him any better? Didn't they know that he would rather have died than betray Lilly and James? He wouldn't have pissed on any of his Black relatives if they were on fire, but he would have gone through hell for James, Lilly or Miranda.

"Professor I didn't do it, I went to check on Remus and Peter and no one was there, I came here found Aries and Harry then you showed up."

Then the most hated voice spoke, that of Serverus Snape "Give it up Black, I already told the Headmaster that you were at the meeting where the Dark Lord gave the order to kill everyone in this house, he even offered to induct you into the inner circle if you were the one to kill your wife."

Sirius' eyes darkened and he snarled out "Utter one more word Snivellus and I'll kill you where you stand."

Snape just smirked "Such a bloodthirsty nature for an innocent man."

Sirius knew that Snape had been filling the Professor's head with lies, the old man was too trusting, too easy to forgive the mistakes someone made if they seemed contrite about them, even if that person was an admitted Death Eater.

He remembered the day like it was yesterday when Dumbledore had brought Snape to the Order meeting telling everyone that he had turned against Voldemort and agreed to be a spy in the Inner Circle, the only two people who had not believed this change of colours was Sirius Black, and James Potter. Lilly was just glad to have her first magical friend back after all the years spent apart, and it was the two aforementioned Marauders who noticed the hungry look in Snape's eyes when he looked at Lilly, a look that made the two friends very uncomfortable.

Now here was that self same bastard showing his true colours, and the only one who knew that he was doing so, was the man he was successfully accusing, Sirius had never wanted to kill anyone as much as he wanted to kill Snape at that moment, but the two boys he had in the sidecar of his motorbike stopped him, he was all that was left to take care to the two innocent souls, it was then that he knew that he would never be able to reason with his old comrades, he had to get away.

He swallowed down the pain that he was feeling, the pain over the loss of his wife, the pain over the loss of the people he thought of as a brother and sister, pain of knowing that his son had been hideously scarred, and the pain that nothing would ever be the same again.

"Sirius step away from the children, no matter how far you have fallen from the Light you cannot have fallen far enough to want to hurt the children." Dumbledore's overly grandfatherly voice grated on Sirius's ears, which was nothing to when Snape again decided to add his own two cents worth.

"I would not be so sure about that Headmaster; it appears to the casual observer that both boys are sporting significant facial injuries, his own son appears to have lost an eye, how sad."

The dripping sarcasm made a few of the Order members look at Snape strangely, they understood that he had a dark history with Black, no one could think of him as Sirius anymore, but to almost take pleasure in the fact that two infants had been injured, either by Black himself, or by the recently defeated Dark Lord. In their minds a seed was planted regarding Snape's loyalty, a small seed admittedly as the great Albus Dumbledore had vouched for the man himself.

Dumbledore raised his wand even further and spoke with a hint of anger in his voice "Sirius step away from the boys now" Dumbledore was thinking if he was fast enough he would be able to stun Black before the Dark Wizard had time to injure anyone in the Order, or the two children behind him.

"If that's the way you feel about it Headmaster then I believe you have given me no choice" the Headmaster new exactly what Black was going to do three seconds before he did it, nowhere near enough time to do anything about it.

Sirius used a spell from the Black family Grimoire, the hereditary spell books that all the ancient families have, containing spells, arcane knowledge and any anything magical that the family could use, charmed that only a member of that families bloodline could read it.

"Nocturne" a flash of black light spat from Sirius's wand and everyone in front of him was blinded; there was the roaring sound of a motorbike starting up and the crack of apparition, then silence.

As soon as Sirius was out of the area the spell wore off Dumbledore quickly assessed the situation, sending a few Order members into the house, and issuing orders to his remaining followers. "Alastor you Minerva and Severus come with me we are going to check some of Black's old haunts, then go to Gringotts, he cannot be allowed to access any of the Black families accounts, with that wealth he could disappear to any corner of the globe. The rest of you search anywhere you can think of, finding Harry Potter is imperative, he is the only hope for the wizarding world when the Dark Lord returns, save Black's child if you can he should not have to suffer at his father's hands anymore than Harry should, but Harry is the prerogative."

With those words the massed members of the Order apparated away, each with their own mission to try to save the newly dubbed Boy-Who-Lived.

As the Order members recovered from their temporary blindness and went about their leader's assigned tasks Sirius Black was arriving at number 12 Grimmauld Place, the home of the Black family in London. It was nowhere near as grand as their ancestral Castle, or Manor, but it was as decadent as a city home could be when it belonged to an elitist, aristocratic wizarding family, in other words very grand, however Sirius's mother, Lady Walburga Black, was currently in residence.

Walburga had loved both her sons, however in the true pureblood fashion she was restrained distant and cold, she had also loved her late husband Lord Orion Black, but had hated the fact that he had been so cruel to his sons, causing Sirius to rebel and leave the family home, and Regulus to fall in line with the late Dark Lord, getting killed for his trouble. She had wept at Orion's funeral, not only for the loss of her husband, but also for the belief that her husband had cost her, her sons. So she was most surprised and a little concerned when the wards surrounding the townhouse had flared informing her that her son and one full member of the Black family, along with someone who was distantly related were arriving.

Moving to the entrance of the home Walburga was confronted with someone she was not expecting to see, her eldest son Sirius Orion Black, but she was even more surprised to see the two small boys' cradled with infinite tenderness in his arms. She had no idea where he would have gotten children; she knew he had married Potter's sister as the family tapestry in the townhouse had told her as much, however after the death of her husband the room had sealed allowing only the Lord of House Black to open it.

"Sirius, what in the name of magic itself is going on here? Who are these boys? Is that blood?"

Sirius raised his dark grey eyes and said in a voice grating and harsh, sounding more like his hated father than he ever had "They are dead, Lilly, James and Mir...Miranda. They are dead and Dumbledore and the Order think I had something to do with it, all because of that hook nosed bastard Snape. They all believe that I am the traitor, me, I would have died for anyone of them, and to think that they think that I would have hurt the boys."

Sirius shook his head and walked into the living room and placed the sleeping boys in one of the deep armchairs, he turned and faced his mother, and saw that her personal house elf Kreacher had followed the sound of his mistress voice and was also present.

"I couldn't find Remus, or Peter, why was no one rushing to find them? If this is the way they behave, they would rather believe that Death Eater scum Snape over me then I am done, I sever all ties with them and their pathetic Order. I Sirius Orion Black do hereby claim my title as Baron of Silverthane and Lord of House Black."

There was a blinding flash of light and Walburga covered her eyes with her hand, Kreacher just squeaked in fright and hid behind his mistress, when the light cleared Walburga saw the ring. It was the heavy ring of the Head of House Black, Baron of Silverthane, the ring was old when the Normans invaded England, made out of solid platinum it was an imposing sight set with an gleaming white stone bearing the seal of House Black, a snarling three headed Cerberus on white beneath a strip of black bearing a white inverted cresent moon. The motto for the House was inscribed on the base of the stone 'Vae Victas', Woe to the Conquered.

Walburga could only stand there with her hands to her mouth in shock, she had never expected Sirius to accept the position of Head of House, he had sworn when he left to live with the Potter's all those years that he would never had taken the position, as it was an engrained part of Pureblood society that the second son could not inherit the position, and any titles that went with it, while the first born was a) still alive or b) not claimed the title yet.

"Sirius whats going on? You are not making any sense who is dead, who doesn't believe you?"

Sirius brought himself back to the present after staring at the ring he had seen adorn his father's finger since he was a child, he looked at his mother with his stormy grey eyes and Walburga felt an unpleasant tingling chill go down her spine, even her devoted Kreacher let out a scared squeak.

"You had best sit down mother; this is not a pleasant tale."

It was then that everything came out, Sirius being unable to find his childhood friends, his mad dash to the Potter's safe house, the blood strewn horror he had found there including the broken body of his young wife. It was at that part that Walburga did something that she had never done before, since she was a young girl her actions, expressions and emotions were dominated by the stiff upbringing that was common and expected in pureblood society, but for perhaps the first time in her life she broke those constraints.

It was with a trembling hand that she reached out and put her hand on her son's shoulder, it was such a simple gesture, but one filled with meaning, it was something that Sirius had never received from his mother, love, comfort. Then throwing aside all her years of adhering to the dogma of pureblood society, she pulled her sobbing son into her arms and held him as he wept through the pain of the last few hours.

She glanced over and saw that Kreacher had tended to the two young boys, as they both had Black blood, even though it was further back in his family tree in the case of young Harry, any elf bound to the House of Black would not only respond to their summons and orders but would be able to treat their injuries with his own brand of magic.

Sirius eventually pulled himself together and his eyes met his mothers, there shining in their depths was an understanding that passed between them, that they had made a start at being a family, but one act could not erase the acts of a lifetime.

"If you will excuse me Mother, there are things that I must do" Siris said as he rose from where he had been sitting. He told Kreacher to fetch him some fine silk robes with the crest of House Black on the front.

As he shrugged out of the plain black robes he had been wearing and pulled on the new ones the house elf brought him, he changed from battle weary, emotionally drained warrior and became the Lord of the House of Black.

"Son where do you go?" came Walburga's softly asked question, she hoped that her son was thinking with his head and not his heart, that he was going to secure the future of their House and not heading off on a mad scheme of revenge.

"First I head to Gringotts, I will ensure that Dumbledore cannot get his hands on the Potter fortune, and try to relieve me of my position as Harry's guardian, I will also ensure the line of succession of our own House, to ensure that if anything does happen to me, whether it be at the hands of the Death Eaters, or the Order of the Phoenix, that my son will be taken care of and his rights not infringed upon by anyone who spouts of about the Greater Good."

Walburga didn't completely understand his response, but as he eldest son apparated away she turned to the two small children that were sleeping in the living room chair. Kreacher had healed their injuries as best he could, but Walburga had trained as a healer in her youth, when she had married Orion Black the notion of her doing any work at all had been completely out of the question, it was not proper for a Lady of Pureblood status to actually work for gold, no she should contend herself with bearing her husband heirs, socialising with her peers, and attending social gatherings on the arm of her noble husband. She had enjoyed all of thise things immensely, having been born into an old, if not as noble as he husband, pureblood House. She pulled her wand and started casting diagnostic spells in an attempt to discover what she could about the conditions the two babes were in.

While Walburga Black was attending to the two young children that had been left in her care, it was a stony faced Sirius Black was marched down the centre of Diagon Ally, the hood of his dark cloak raised to disguise his features, he knew from his experience in Albus' little bird watching club that the old man had one of the most effective information networks available. The old man had people everywhere that passed on information to him, there were probably even people that did it without even knowing that the information that they were passing on ended up in the Hogwarts Headmaster's hands.

Sirius entered Gringotts without incident and walked up to the nearest available bank teller, thankfully the knowledge that Voldemort had been defeated had not been made known to the general public and therefore there were about three wizards to witches in the whole establishment. 'Albus always has to be the first to know and the last to give away any information' Sirius thought to himself as the Goblin looked up from his ledger.

"Greeting honoured banker. My name is Sirius Orion Black, Baron of Silverthane and Lord of House Black. It would be greatly appreciated if you could inform the Black family account manager, Manager Trenchclaw that I wish to speak to him immediately, also in my positon as the Guardian of the Last of the Potter's it may be prudent for the Potter account manager to be present as well, I have information that concerns his clients."

It took the goblin about three seconds to realise what had been said to him before he nodded his head, almost a bow and said "At once My Lord" before he quite literally jogged away to find the aforementioned account managers.

Within minutes of the Goblin's departure Sirius found himself ensconced in a luxurious office waiting for the Black, and hopefully Potter, account managers to arrive. He was a little disappointed when only Trenchclaw entered the room, he had hoped that the Potter manager would be accompanying him, it would make it difficult for him to secure the Potter fortune, Harry's trust vault and the other Potter valuables and estates from the manipulations of the Headmaster if the account manager was not there.

Trenchclaw motioned for Sirius to sit down before his desk whilst he sat behind it, and before the young Lord was able to speak the Goblin spoke "My Lord allow me to be the first to offer my most sincere condolences on the loss of your wife, we at Gringotts were informed the moment she passed on, I am so sorry for your loss, she was a wondrously kind and energetic woman she will be missed. I also have a message to pass on from Manager Irongrip, the Potter account manager, he acknowledges your position as Godfather of young Harold, and that you are going to act as his guardian and you are allowed to make decisions and financial recommendations to the Potter financial estate, you are authorised to make investments for the Potter financial estate but are not allowed to make cash withdrawals or sell any property."

The Goblin manager slid a piece of official looking parchment over to Sirius along with an official Gringotts Blood Quill "If you will sign on at the bottom of this parchment then you are agreeing to the aforementioned stipulations and are agreeing to meet with the Potter account manager every quarter to discuss the financial situation of the Potter account."

Sirius nodded his head "It should be James and Lilly sitting here controlling the Potter accounts not me, I never wanted this kind of authority, I only wanted to be Harry's favourite Uncle, the one who spoiled him rotten, and bought him outrageous Christmas presents.'

He ignored the sharp pain in his hand as he signed his name at the bottom of the page, he passed the document back to the Goblin and sat back in his chair and said "Very well Trenchclaw now we need to get down to the brass tacks of this situation. Now at the minute I do not know if I am going to be a free man at this time tomorrow, Albus Dumbledore believes, on the word of a confessed Death Eater, that I am the one that betrayed Lord and Lady Potter. Now I am willing to surrender myself to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and testify under Veritaserum that I never was the Potter's secret keeper. Now should I prove to be unsuccessful and thrown into Azkaban without a trial, as you well know that Crouch is doing just this, then I want to safeguard the Black accounts from any interference, whether that be from the Ministry, Dumbledore or any other family."

He took a drink from the glass of water that had been provided for him "My mother is to be given the same amount of access that she had when my father was alive and she is to be named the primary guardian of both Harold and Aries, along with the Longbottom's. My son is to be hearby known as the Scion of House Black, given the courtesy title of Lord Black when he reaches the age of fifteen, and I shall determine a trust fund for both him and Harold at a later date, or my mother, the Lady Walburga will be able to do so. Also should my mother pass away and be unable to fulfill her duties as guardians for the two boys "

Sighing deeply he continued, noting absentmindedly that Trenchclaw was writing down everything that he said, "Also Harold is to be known as Scion of House Potter, and given the courtesy title of Lord Potter when he reaches the age of fifteen, I will bring him to the bank when he reaches the age of eleven, along with my own son, then they will be able to be gradually introduced to their positions and learn about the management of their Houses."

Sirius glanced at his watch and realised he had been at the bank for over three hours "If there is nothing more Trenchclaw then I must return to my son and godson, they need me more than anything at the present moment."

Just as he was standing up the Goblin spoke again "Actually My Lord there is something else that should be discussed in this meeting, as it involves your son."

Sirius sat down again with a thump, fear gripped his heart in an icy grip, what new horror was going to befall his firstborn. What the Goblin said was quite honestly the most unexpected thing he could have possibly uttered, except if he had claimed that Remus was in fact Aries's father.

"My Lord there is one other matter that we really must discuss, that of betrothal contracts."

Sirius sat back in shock "I was unaware that there were any betrothal contracts currently active for my House, or the Potters, that being said I have only been the House Lord for a few hours."

Trenchclaw nodded his head 'That is indeed understandable, if one of the betrothal contracts had been applicable to you then you would have been informed about it, and your perspective bride, when you had first appeared at the bank. However as you are now the Lord of House Black and have a suitable male heir there is a contract that will affect him. The original contract was drawn up in the year 1676 between Lord Perseus Black and Lord Adalard Delacour, to cement their recently agreed upon alliance and business relationship, if you were to examine the folio containing the Black business investments then you would see from the year 1676 to the present the Blacks have been running their import and export business into mainland Europe through the Delacour family."

The Goblin took a breather and a sip of his own water, when he had met with his client he had no idea that he would be talking as much as he had been, normally all dealings with wizards was kept to an absolute minimum, ninety nine percent of wizards treated Goblins with barely disguised contempt, however although he was a pureblood elitist Sirius Black's father had always treated his goblin contacts with respect, and kept what he really thought about them private, he had said on many occasions that if wizards should trust Goblins with their gold then they should treat them with respect, for personal feelings should never get in the way of good business, it was for this reason that the Black fortune had grown to the extent that it had under the previous head of the family.

Sirius, in true Sirius fashion in going against his family in practically every way, had always treated the Goblins with respect and actually quite liked the vicious little creatures, they were pleasant enough as long as they were treated fairly, but they would brook no insult to them, their nation or any of their people, something Sirius himself tried to embody every day.

"The exact nature of the contract can be discussed at a later date, but the gist of it as you humans would say, is that the contract would come into fruition when there is both a first born son to the Head of the House of Black, and a first born daughter born to the Head of the House of Delacour, they shall be betrothed, they shall be formally engaged no later than the younger ones seventeenth year and married no later than the younger ones twenty third year. For your own information My Lord this contract is non-negotiable, both of the Lords at the time signed it in blood, and ratified it with their seals. It is not unusual for this kind of contract to remain unfulfilled fort this amount of time, for their have indeed been first born of both houses but none met the specific requirements, they could not be more than five years older than each other, and they did specify that those bound by the contract had to be the first born son and daughter. Our records indicate that the current Head of House Delacour is Lord Gilbert Delacour, and the girl whom your son is currently promised to is Fleur Delacour."

Sirius sighed and ran his fingers through his long hair, he had always hoped that his son would be able to do as he did, meet a girl, fall in love, and marry at his own time and pace. But here he was bound in an unbreakable contract to a witch that he had not met.

"Very well thank you for binging this to my attention Trenchclaw, you also said that there was a contract for the House of Potter, acting in my role as Godfather and current guardian for the future Head of House Potter, I would like to know the details for Hadrian's contract."

The faint grin on the Goblin's face should have alerted Sirius as to what was coming but, in his defense, he was a little frazzled right now.

"The contract binding young Hadrian is not quite as old as the one that binds your son, having only existed since 1856, again I will forward the exact details onto you at a later date, but essentially young Hadrian will be betrothed to any available young lady of this House no more than two years his senior or junior, they shall be formally engaged no later than the younger ones seventeenth year and married no later than the twenty forth year. Again my lord this contract is non-negotiable, signed in blood by both parties and ratified by their seals."

Sirius nodded his head and sighed, something he found that he had been doing a lot during the current conversation, when something stuck him as odd in the Goblin's word. "Trenchclaw you never mentioned the House of the young lady in question who will be marrying my godson."

Now there was a definite grin gracing the account manager's face, something that showed Sirius that the account manager was barely holding in laughter, in all his dealing with this particular Goblin he had only seen him laugh three times, and he knew that irony was the highest form of humor, especially to Trenchclaw the Goblin.

"Oh didn't I? I do beg your pardon My Lord that was completely unacceptable of me, the young lady who meets that criteria is not technically a member of the House that your godson will be betrothed to. Her mother having been expelled from the House after she married a muggleborn wizard by the name of Ted Tonks."

Sirius' eyes widened as everything rushed home and he knew exactly whon his godson would have to marry, if he hadn't been in such a severe state of shock then he would have been able to seen the insane levels of humor in the situation. This however did not stop the Goblin from continuing his little speech.

"The young lady in question is Nymphadora Tonks, and the contract will come into fruition when you formally accept her mother, Andromeda Tonks, and by extension her husband and daughter, back into the Black family. Your own House is betrothed to the Potter heir."

With these words the Goblins raucious laughter rang out through the room, and Sirius had no option but to either weep or join in, so in true Marauder fashion he joined in.

Just as the barest hint of dawn was starting to break over the horizon Albus Dumbledore strode through the halls of Gringotts, a writ from the Wizengamot granting him authority to get the Goblins to discuss the dealings of two of their highest level accounts, the account of the Houses of Black & Potter.

He had not been able to get the wizarding court to allow him to take over guardianship for both Houses, as he had been acting under the suspicion that there was no Lord for House Black, he would never had guessed that Sirius would have claimed his family title, especially after he had rallied and railed against them in the past, another proof of his treachery.

After flourishing the document at the nearest Goblin he was eventually shown to the office of a Goblin by the name of Trenchclaw, the Potter account manager had been unavailable at the time, no matter Dumbledore would be able to meet with him another time.

"Manager Trenchclaw thank you for meeting me at so early an hour but there are a great many things for us to discuss" he slid the document he held over to the Goblin and sat back while the creature read it "I trust that everything is in order?"

The Goblin nodded and said "Very well Mr Dumbledore what is it that you would like to know?"

Dumbledore bristled slightly, he had always found it a little insulting that the Goblins refused to call him by any of his titles, while it was true that his House did not carry an ennoblement, he was the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, The Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, and the Headmaster of the most prestigious school in the Magical World.

"I would like to enquire as to whether or not a certain client of yours has visited this establishment within the last twenty four hours. I am, of course, referring to one Sirius Black."

While he was maintaining a calm demeanor, on the inside the Headmaster was actually wound tighter than a coiled spring, he needed to know what Black had been up to, if he had been able to access any of his families vast wealth, and what he had done to the two boys that had been with him when he had fled the terrible scene at Godric's Hollow.

The Goblin nodded his head, although he was bound by treaty to follow the instructions of the Wizengamot, he was in no way shape or form bound in the amount of details he had to turn over.

"Indeed the Lord Black did arrive at the bank in the early hours of this morning." The crafty account manager left off there, knowing that the old Headmaster would be unable to simply accept that information and would break the silence in an attempt to push for more information.

"I see, I am afraid that it is my duty to inform you that Sirius Black is guilty of multiple murders, including the deaths of the Potters, one of this banks most prestigious clients I believe, he has also kidnapped young Harry Potter and prevented him from being delievered to his rightful guardians. I believe that it would be best if you were to turn over any information on Black's, and by extension Harry's, current location immediately, also I believe it would be best to relinquish control of the Black fortune to myself, in order to monitor it and prevent this murderer from using it for any more nefarious deeds."

Albus was sure that this statement would get him the cooperation he needed, he didn't want to force the Goblins to allow him to take over the Black fortune, he would only take on this burden for the Greater Good.

Trenchclaw raised his eyebrow, was this wizard serious, he expected Gringotts to break its valued client confidentiality just because another wizard, one who had never really spent much time with the Goblins, and just assumed that his vaunted reputation would allow him to do anything that he really wanted.

Rubbing a hand though his grey hair the Goblin began to tackle the problem that was informing the self-professed 'Leader of the Light' where he could shove his all-important Wizengamot document, her wondered what would happen if the Wizengamot had thought through the consequences of allowing a member of their parliament the authority to examine a Head of a Noble House's financial records. And now that the precedent had been set there was nothing to stop him from putting such a motion before the government again.

Sirius Black ran his hand through his hair, a gesture that he seemed to be doing a great deal today. He had apparated to the small laneway behind his families London dwelling, it was warded with muggle notice-me-not charms so wizards and witches visiting the Black family home would be able to arrive without attracting untoward attention. He moved towards the rear entrance of the house when he heard a noise behind him.

Cursing silently he whirled around his wand leaping into his hand, he had briefly considered apparating directly into the house but he needed the cool night air to clear his thoughts, with everything that had happened over the last twenty four hours, he was emotionally, physically and mentally shattered., and all he wanted before he spoke to his mother again was to feel the cool evening breeze on his face.

But that thought went completely out of the window at the faintest hint of noise, if he had experienced anything other than the last day, he may have brushed the whole thing off as a cat or small animal rummaging around in the alleyway, but right now that sound could be from anyone or anything.

He saw a figure step from the shadows, and when the light finally illuminated the person's face Sirius wasn't sure whether he nearly dropped his wand in shock, or should be throwing blasting curses. From out of the shadows, his hands, and signature wand-cane raised in submission, looking like he had run across the country, was Lucius Malfoy.

Before Sirius could utter a word Malfoy fell to his knees and said "Lord Sirius Black, Baron of Silverthane, I come before you in supplication."

The ancient words rocked Sirius, and he hesitated, a curse still on the tip of his tongue, the words were used by lesser Houses when greeting a family of higher statue, when the lesser house wanted something from the greater. Sirius was 'technically' Overlord of House Malfoy as his cousin Narcissa had married into that family therefore making the Malfoy family a subjugated extension of the Black family, even though it had never been enforced.

Though the Malfoy line was a noble line, the head of the family only bore the title of Lord, they had no Baronial title attached to the name. There were only twelve families in the whole of wizarding Briton that were entitled to a Barony, the Black's, Potter's, Longbottoms', Bones', Fergus', Greengrass', Selwyn's, Dogeman's, Peverell's, Sharpe's, Caldwin's and the Warrick's, it was these families that held the power to reshape the wizarding world in their favour, and some of them had died out, the titles becoming extinct. Unless they had been absorbed into another family, who would then be able to recreate them with the birth of a second son, or pass them onto a blood relation, although this didn't happen often as most families did not want to split their power base.

In fact the Potter's ad absorbed the ancient Peverell line sometime in the fourteen hundreds, and the Black's had done the same with the Caldwin title, each family gaining the other's lands, possessions, gold and more importantly for the pureblood minded, the prestige.

All of this information flashed into the forefront of Sirius's mind before he even had the chance to really process what the normally arrogant pureblood was even saying, and even more surprising was that he responded in kind.

"Speak then supplicant and let your words fall upon our ears so that we may render judgment."

Lucius raised his head slightly, looked Sirius in the eye and said "I know what you must think of me My Lord, I know of the things that I have done, but please you must believe me that there are things at work here that you do not know, I beg of you to let me explain myself to you."

Sirius nodded his head, it seemed that the surprises of the day were not quite over.

"It is true that I supported the Dark Lord, during his initial rise to power he was eloquent and charming, speaking the words that we all wanted to hear, but he never mentioned the kind of brutality and depravity that he eventually sank into, he never mentioned the killing of innocent women and children. I am no muggle lover, but I would never slaughter them like he has. At first all he wanted from my family was political and monetary backing to run for ministerial office. We provided it as it seemed like the most logical path at the time. However when he became violent he demanded that I join his ranks, this was just after I married Narcissa, I refused I said that he was mad, that he had had not remained true to what we had set out to do. It was then that he threatened my family, you may remember that my father died very suddenly, The Dark Lord was responsible, he threatened to kill the remained of my family if I did not submit to him."

Lucius drew in a shuddering breath "Even then I could not do it willingly, I could not completely submit to his will. He cast the imperious curse of me, along with a binding curse, I acted how he wanted, I did as he wanted, I believed as he wanted as I had no choice, for the last half a decade I have been living a lie. Look here is proof the Dark Mark I bear is upside down, a sign that it was taken unwillingly, and there are others like me that have suffered the same fate."

He pulled the left sleeve of his robes up bearing his arm for the world to see, and the Dark Mark glared back at them, not as bright as it had previously been, no longer a deep black color but more of a dark smoky grey, and it was indeed upside down, the skull nearer the wrist than the elbow as on other Death Eaters, however Sirius was not convinced, a changed Dark Mark was hardly conclusive proof.

Lucius could see the look in Sirius Black's eyes and knew that the Lord of House Black was going to kill him, probably even before the man knew it himself. Acting quickly he drew his snake headed wand from his cane and said "I Lord Lucius Malfoy Head of House Malfoy, swear on my life and magic that what I have just told Sirius Black is the truth, if I have uttered one falsehood then let me be struck down. So Mote It Be."

He flung his wand away from himself as he glowed briefly in acknowledgement of the magical oath, closed his eyes and opened his arms accepting that he very well die for this crimes tonight, and a small part of him acknowledged that they very well could be his fate were he ever to stand trial.

After a moment he opened his eyes and looked at the Lord Black, his wand was by his side, his mouth was open in total disbelief, before a snicker broke loose, the snicker became a giggle, and the giggle became a laugh that echoed around like rolling thunder.

This was too much for young Sirius Black to take in, after everything that had happened that day, all the pain, all the heartache, the shocks and the betrayals. For a man he would quite happily have considered a mortal enemy just a few hours before to come before him and bear his soul in penitence, he did the only thing that he could do, he fell back on an old Sirius Black trick, when someone plays a great practical joke on you, even when that someone is life itself, you laugh, and you laugh the loudest.

So in a dingy alleyway in London, a formally arrogant pureblood practically prostrating himself before him, Sirius laughed, and laughed until the tears ran down his face, and he didn't know if he was laughing because he was weeping, or weeping because he was laughing. All the while Lucius Malfoy looked on in stunned silence.

A/N: Ok that was a little bit longer than I anticipated, I hope you all enjoyed it please read and review and I will hopefully be able to add chapters on a semi-regular basis, as I said above none of my stories are abandoned I am just waiting for my damn minions to round up the lost plot bunnies. Until next time TBK


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